Great Team Player Quotes & Sayings

As a player I won things, had a special 10 years under Martin O'Neill [at Leicester and Celtic] and played in some great teams, beating Manchester United and getting to the last 16 of the Champions League. As a manager, I don't know if I will top this; I hope I do, because I am still young and am still learning. But this is up there with anything I have achieved, not just in my football career but in my life. — Neil Lennon

I concluded some time ago that a major part of success of a team, or of an individual, has a great deal to do with the intangible qualities possessed. The real key is in how a person see himself (humility), how he feels about what he does (passion), how he works with others (unity), how he makes others better (servanthood), and how he deals with frustration and success, truly learning from each situations (thankfulness). I believe those concepts are the essence of a good player, team, coach, or individual in any capacity in life. — Dick Bennett

A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that's teamwork. — John Wooden

Milan is my favorite team. Every weekend I check the Serie A results to see how Milan fared. Milan has really great players, like Seedorf, Ibra, Pato and Thiago Silva. Then there is Nesta who is a great champion, it's enough just to look at his career. — Mamadou Sakho

When I played with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team, there was a huge gap between his ability and the ability of the other great players on that team. But what impressed me was that he was always the first one on the floor and the last one to leave. — Steve Alford

Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don't want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy — Pat Riley

anyway, the money was great, but the corporate world just wasn't to my liking. i guess i'm not a team player--or an ass-kisser. — Douglas Preston

Football is such a team sport, so no one individual does it. No one coach or no one assistant coach or no one player, it's a great team sport, so I don't get carried away with a bunch of accolades. — Jimmy Johnson

Great teams have players who understand their responsibilities. — Bruce Brown

On paper we might be the best team in the league. We've got great players on this team who accomplished so much. We just couldn't put it together. — Amar'e Stoudemire

I think there's an awful lot of ball players with great skills, but whether or not they're going to be on winning teams is not going to be answered until you see how they fit in to a team or a program. If they don't, it may be their fault or it may be their coaches. — Tex Winter

Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game. You can devise a foolproof defensive strategy and prepare your players for every possible eventuality. But if the players don't have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won't pay off. And the bond that unites a team can be so fragile, so elusive. — Phil Jackson

The great thing about [Michael] Jordan was that he made them want it just like he wanted it. And a lot of times like a lot of the basketball players, not to be getting on basketball, but, with a lot of the basketball players you might have one superstar on the team, and they're not willing to play up to par with the way he is, so they don't make it. But then you have some celebrities on the basketball team, and they don't know how to get along with each other! — Ginuwine

Westbrook: 10 triple-doubles and carrying that team, injury-prone, into the playoffs. LeBron being the best player in the world. But I think right now I would go with James Harden because of what he's done. He's stepped up his game defensively. He's not a great defender but he's competing on the defensive end. — Mark Jackson

The most direct path to achievement whether you're an entrepreneur, a company executive, or a pro soccer player is to be a great performer and a great team member. This is also the secret to a meaningful career and self-fulfillment. — Maynard Webb

Rocky is a warrior, we've had a lot of great battles starting from when I was 16. He's a true team player, great fighter, and I have a ton of respect for him. — Mike Brown

I won eight Stanley Cups as a player, and I've been told it's because I played on great teams. I won two as a general manager, and I've been told it's because I was lucky. — Serge Savard

To have a successful team, you have to have great players of course - but you have to have good personalities and good people as well. — David Beckham

Play off your great player ... great teams have a go-to player and they play off of him. — Don Meyer

A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders. — Pele

A player who makes a team great is better than a great player. — John Wooden

On good teams coaches hold players accountable, on great teams players hold players accountable — Joe Dumars

One single great player doesn't make anything for a team; it has to be a team. I think [American] football is the greatest team sport there is because you have to depend on your brother next to you. — Tim Tebow

One of the Arsenal players came up to me afterwards and said it had been an honor to be on the same pitch as me. I thought, My God, that is a great thing to say when your team has just lost. — Lionel Messi

The main reason for doing it now had more to do with the players. This is a great group. This particular group has really worked hard to prepare themselves. And we have a chance to have a good football team. — LaVell Edwards

Perhaps the toughest call for a coach is weighing what is best for an individual against what is best for the team. Keeping a player on the roster just because I liked him personally, or even because of his great contributions to the team in the past, when I felt some one else could do more for the team would be a disservice to the team's goals. — Tom Landry

The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work. — Alex Ferguson

People will think there are no other great ballplayers. Look at Garnett. Look at Duncan, Shaq, Kobe. Look at the players with Sacramento. The have a really good basketball team. — Oscar Robertson

Don't let talent get in way of team performance. Great players do what's outstanding for team, not what makes them stand out — Jerry West

When your great players are team players, everybody else follows their lead. The best team doesn't always win - it's usually the team that gets along best. — John C. Maxwell

Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best. — Xavi

I love Courtney Lee. He's a very good player. I know that sounds very simple, but it's true. He does things well. He's a good defender, a great team defender, and he shoots the ball very well. — Doc Rivers

You always miss a great player, but I think the players on this team have taken a lot of pride in overcoming obstatcles when we have a player down ? not only the offensive players, but the defensive players. We were very fortunate that we played that well. — Bobby Petrino

The beach game taught me great lessons about how to elevate the play of my teammate, or teammates, and how to anticipate and expect the ball so much more than the indoor game ever could. It taught me - even forced me - to be a much better all-around player. That allowed me to help our USA Olympic Team in many more ways than I ever could have otherwise. — Karch Kiraly

It's just that [the Hawks have made] a lot of changes. A lot of their great players have moved on. They have a lot of new faces and a lot of young guys who are going to be a part of this team for a long time. It'll take time. They've got a nice little core to start with. — Mike Modano

It's just fun to go out and compete. It doesn't matter what your record is or what the other team's record is. You're playing in an NFL game, and you are out there competing with great players. — Jamie Martin

Do you value people who won't benefit you or only those who might contribute in some way to your success? Great team players truly value others as people, and they know and relate to what others value. — John C. Maxwell

Did you catch the time-of-great-suffering thing?"
Her expression softened. "Can you just make sure I'm not around when it happens?"
"No can do," I said, strolling back to my office with a negating wave of my hand. "If I have to suffer, then so does everyone else within a ten-mile radius."
She pursed her lips. "What ever happened to taking one for the team?"
"Was never much of a team player."
"Sacrificing yourself for the greater good?"
"Not that into human sacrifice."
"Suffering in silence?"
I stopped and turned back to her, my eyes narrowing accusingly. "If I have to suffer, I'll be screaming your name at the top of my lungs the whole time. You'll be able to hear me all the way to Jersey, mark my words."
- Charley to Cookie — Darynda Jones

Good things happen to a team when a player takes the place where he adds the most value. Great things happen when all the players on the team take the role that maximizes their strengths - their talent, skill, and experience. — John C. Maxwell

You learn from everybody. You learn from the players. You learn from great coaches. You learn from great teams — Tom Thibodeau

As far as the Jets go, I'm competing to play. It will be a heated competition between Kellen and me, and I'm excited about that; I will do it in a respectful way. I have the utmost respect for him because he's a great player. Whatever's best for team will be best for the team and the coaches will decide. — Mark Sanchez

Great teams are not made up of many well-rounded players. Great teams are made up of a variety of players, each having their own strengths. — Pele

Derek Jeter has been a great representative of what the Yankees have stood for over the years. He has been a team player who has only cared about winning. He has also been a fine example both on and off the field over his long tenure as a Yankee. It has been a real pleasure to manage him and play alongside him. — Joe Girardi

Neymar is undoubtedly the best player in Brazil. He deserves to play in the best team in the world; next to the best player in the world, Messi.He is a very good player with great quality and a great future.I have no doubt. For me, Neymar is a genius. — Pele

My dream has come true. I play with the great players and on a great team. I'm smiling and happy and enjoying the time of my life. — Alexander Ovechkin